Basic joint and bar for building structures



July 4, 1944. T. JANlszEwsKl- BASIC JOINTS AD BARS FOR BUILDING STRUCTURES Filed Jan. 26, 1942 3 sheets-Sheet 1 www www INVENTOR, I

T. lJANlSZEWSKl July` 4, 1944.

BASIC JOINTS `AND -BARS FOR BUILDING STRUCTURES 3 SheetS--Sheekl 2 Filed Jan. 26, 1942 INVENTOR,

July 4, 1944. T. JANlszEwsKl BASIC JOINTS AND BARS FOR BUILDING STRUCTURES Filed'Jan. 2e, 1942 5 sheets-sheet s INVENTOR. D. i l.

BY W

Patentecl July 4, 1944 UNITED YS'I'YIES PATENT orifice 6 Claims.

This invention relates to'new and useful improvements in joints for basic structural steel members, and it is among the objects thereof to provide such a joint in the form of a casting or as a fabricated sheet metal member to especially adapt it for use in the assembly of structural steel-elements to form bridges, towers, buildings or other structural forms and supports.

n I am well aware that structural steel members have been designed with special joints to adapt themv for assembly. of standard or basic structural steel bars or shapes, such as angles, channels, I-beams and the like, as is one of the objects of this invention.

The present invention, in addition, provides for the attachment of such structural members on two or more of their faces or .sides to lend rigidity and to effect uniform distribution of stresses in the assembly. n

The invention further contemplates the deages so arranged as to produce a predetermined directional disposition to the connecting strut or beam as wellY `as to .provide for securely .anchoring the` members at their point of assembly in the joint. n

. The invention will become more apparent from ,a consideration of the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof in which like reference characters designate like parts, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a fabricated sheet metal joint embodying the principles of lthis invention;

i Fig. 2 aside elevational view thereof;

" Fig. 3 a cross-sectional viewtaken on the line 3.-3, Fig. 1;

l Fig. 4 a side elevational view of a modified form of joint constituting an integral casting,

Fig. 5 a cross-sectional'view of a railroad bridge embodying the jointshown in Figs. 1 to 3;

' Fig. 6 a side elevational view of a fragmentary portion of the .bridge illustrating the adaptation of the joint to a structural form;

Fig. '7 a, front elevational View of the cast joint of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 8 a top plan view thereof.

With reference to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, the joint comprises a pair of side plates I and 2, the latter having cut-out windows 3 and 4 for accessibility to the interior of the joint, the side plates I and 2 being joined to a top plate 5 by welding. The side plate I is provided with an extension 6 which is diagonally disposed as shown in Fig. 2 and the side plate 2 is provided with v.sign of a joint having its structural bar anchoran extension plate 'I which is secured in parallel .relation to the extension 6 by welding the same toa web plate 8 having an extension 9 with a web ID to reinforce the structure and to supply rigidity to the extension 9.

Web plates II and I2, Fig. 1, are disposed between the extension "6 and angle plate I and welded thereto at a predeterminedangle. The walls of the joint andthe web plates vare perforated as shown at I3 for'receiving rivets, pins `or bolts, or the structures Vmay lbe joined by welding.

As appears from Fig. 1, a transverse web I`4 is disposed centrally of the longitudinal dimensions of the plates I and 2 to give rigidity and strength to the joint.

The utility of the vjoint of Figs. 1 to 3 is more readily demonstrated in connection with Figs. 5 to 6 of the drawings wherein the ,portions of a railroad bridge are shown.

Angle bars IEQhaving 'both legscontacting the walls of the joint, as'shown in Fig. 5, are employed as chords and are secured to the joint by rivets or bolts or in any other suitable manner on both the engaging leg faces. Similarly, such angle bars are employed in the joints at the bottom of the structure which shows the joints arranged in back-to-back relation to'forin a part of the supporting lower chord.

Angle bars employed as Webs connect' the 'upper joints with the bottom or base joints, as shown,

with the legs of the bars, in lengagement with the walls 6 and 'I of the joint, to again obtain a contacting or seating of the bar on two walls kof the joint to which they are secured.

Thus, for example, Vthe diagonal disposition of the webs Il and I2 correspond to the angle of the diagonals l5 in Fig. 5 and the angle bars are seated on the webs I and f2 with one leg engaging either the wall 6 or 'I ofthe joint.

As shown in Fig. 5, the upper joints have their angular portions inwardly Vdisposed While the supporting base joints have their angular portions outwardly disposed in alignment with the upper joint brackets with the diagonals l5 disposed therebetween and joined thereto at the respective ends of the bars.

Thus, for example, the cross-shaped extensions 2li and 2l of the joint of Fig. 4 will accommodate four angle bars, although a lesser number may be used. If four are employed, a leg of the bars will seat against the face 22 and the face 23 of I the joint or the faces 22a and 23a of the joint, and in like manner any of the bars, such as when employed in a horizontal plane, may be seated and secured to the faces 24 and 25 or transverse bars may be seated and secured to the faces 26 and 21 of the joint. Bars may also be seated and secured to any of the vertical or 'horizontal faces, as for example 28 and 2S of the joint or 3l) rand 3|, and the joint of Fig. 4

or a modification thereof may be utilized in a similar manner to that shown in Figs. 5 and 6,

'and for other structural forms.

It is to be noted that the cast joint of Fig. 4 may be substituted for the two joints in the bottom of the structure in Fig. 5. Other modification of joint shapes to effect directional distribution of the truss elements may, obviously, be employed.

While the invention has been illustrated as embodied in a bridge structure to demonstrate the practical adaptation of the same, it will be obvious that it is generally useable in structural 'steel work, as in buildings, towers and the like. By the use of the two basic elements, the joint and supporting bars, any combination of the two elements may be employed to produce a structure n z of desired cross-section. It may be especially useful for constructing temporary or permanent military bridges in that by means of the standardized shapes of the bars and connecting bolts, it will be unnecessary to have special spare members in stock to replace damaged ones under war conditions.' A minimum number of spare parts consisting of the basic joint member and angle bar will suice to maintain such bridges in proper repair.

The joints may be riveted, welded or cast and 'the bars may be constructed from rolled profile or by welding.

It is evident from the inclination of the mounting faces of the joint that the chords and webs `may be of the same length. Thus, for example, with reference to Fig. 6, if the angle bars l5 of the webs and chords were decreased to half of the present size, the joints and truss elements would retain their same angular relationship.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been herein illustrated and described it Will be evident to those skilled n the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein set forth.

I claim:

1. A joint for building vstructures having angular mounting faces for connection with chord and web truss members consisting of structural angle bars, said faces engaging and joining with two legs of each of the connecting angle bars.

2. A joint for building structures having inltegral connecting faces for joining structural angle bars by contact with both legs of said bars, some of said connecting faces being diagonally or transversely disposed with respect to other connecting faces to constitute the angle bars chord and web members of a truss.

3. A bridge structure comprising a plurality of horizontally and vertically spaced joints of identical construction, each joint having connecting faces for receiving horizontally and diagonally disposed basic angle bars and each having an extension angularly disposed from a vertical centerline, the extension of the upper joints inclining inward and the extension of the lower joints inclining outward at an angle to form a substantially V-shaped structure in cross-section in which all of the connecting truss members are of the same length.

4. In a building structure, a truss comprising the combination with a plurality of joints of a plurality of structural angle bars, said joints having angular mounting faces for making connections with two legs each of the structural angle bars of the chord land web truss members, said mounting faces being of such angularity that all of the connecting truss members may be of the same length.

5. A joint for building structures comprising a pair of side plates having angularly disposed portions forming extensions of said side plates, one of said side plates having windows for access to the interior of the joint, a top or cover plate for said side plates, a web plate between said side plates and the extensions thereof, a web plate between said side plates transversely of said rstnamed web plate and diagonally disposed web plates between the extensions of said side plates, said side plates, extensions and web plates coacting to engage and connect two faces or legs of each of a plurality of'structural angle bars.

6. A joint for building structures as described in the next preceding claim in which the dirnensions of the joint are standardized to permit interchange of the structural angle bars and arrangement .of the'bars in different structurah shapes. u

TADEUSZ JANISZEWSKI. 

